Wichita eagle., 1887-01-16
OuR INDIAN LETTER.
Crime and Polygamy Must Give Place TO
Civilization.

Territory, and the nearer the ripes ap
proach civilization. the greater the proper
ton. The columns of the great daily
newspapers are filled with the revolving
details until, with many, the Territory mas
become a SYNONYM for lawlessness. Inc
United States courts having jurisdiction
are three in number-one at Fort Smith,
Arkansas. for the five civilized nations; one
at Graham, Texas, for the country west OF
the 9Sth meridian and south OF the Cana
dian river: and one at Wichita for the re-
naming portion. These courts have Juris-
diction only in criminal cases, leaving all
the civil offenses to be punished by the
nations tribunals, or go scot free.
The laws of the United States apply only
n the commission of crimes wherein at
least one of the parties is a white man.
bringing all crimes committed by one In
dian upon another without the pale Oh It's
Jurisdiction. The five $50 called civilized
nations have laws of their own governing
the people, and in measure puhlshlhg
offenders, but these laws are crude ana
often unjust, and in many instances the
enormity of an offense consists In the fepe-
tition of it, and punishment is cumulative
thus, for simple larceny, the pun
nishment is so many lashes on the bare
back. for the second offense of like charac-
ter an increased number of lashes, while
for the third offense it is death.
For civil offenses there is no remedy
anywhere. SANDER, defamation OF char
acter. debt and kindred misdeeds, the OF
fender cannot be brought to any court
which can mete out justice. and one OF the
greatest promoters of criminal onenses
arises from this neglect. since the dispute
entailed by "evil speaking, lying and SIAN
dering" is generally provocative OF the
shooting affair which follows their clrcu-
Iation. Then the strong hand of justice
lin the shape of a United States deputy
marshaD appears, and the small of1ense
has grown into a capital crime.
Naturally the Indian is lawless charac-
ter. He refrains from the commission OF
crimes. not because he is fearful OF the
| penalty. but more often from superstltlous
reasons. Even amongst the widest OF
them, some sort of rude justice prevails,
taking more frequently the payment OF
DAMAGES as a punishment for crime com
mitted. than any other form. lmprlson-
n.ent is unknown, and among these In
dams truth compels the statement that any
canital offepse is so rare as to prove the ex-
ception. Polygamy is the mos
common. This they have prac'
ticed since their origin, and
the system came naturally to them as, In
their former life was almost the normal
condition, and as men only can be warriors
i n the life of each, there was a surplus OF
women, and to find husbands and MAINTAIN
their population, rs we'll as to recover loss
es from war, it was natural that the mer
should have plurality of wives. Since
the wars have ended the relative strength
of the sexes has become equal, and as ;
consequence the system is slowly dying
out.
The present syssem of affairs reminds
one of The dark ages. 1t seems incredible
that in the heart of the nation claiming Il
be one of the most enlightened countrIe
upon earth, that such state OF affair
could go on and public attention not draw
to it. But it is fact. No merchant wht
trusts a customer with dollars worth o
merchandise can find any process OF la"
by which he may recover, no matter how
rich his debtor may be.
How long shall this condition OF affair
continue? The answer must be looked TO
n our national legislature. Just as Ion:
rs the present abnormal system OF govern
ment is observation-disclosures the peopi
become masters of the question-they vii
send 10 congress representatives WIZ
will conform 10 their wishes and throw
aside all the plausible pretexts which nov
cloud their intellects and establish the law
; of good government all over the Territory
This will necessitate territorial govern
rnent at first, with its machinery OF courts
to be subsequently, developed into one o
more of the richest states in the union.
Our lawmakers are wrangling over th
rights of the Indians" our solemn oblig;
tons to them rs our wards, etc. Br
does the time never come when wards reac
the age of maturity? Are the rights of ih
Indians to be more carefully guarded tina
the rights of humanity?
Clearly we cannot take away even Il
crude laws they now have without subsi
tuting another and Of better code.
{ This change can be made easily and c
fectually by dividin, the lands in several
i ty, esta blishing titles to each mans inc
II vidual possessions and making him anne
:, able to the law. which protects him as VT
as Furnishes him.
], The people are in favor of it. The tin
u is ripe for the change. The obstruction
consist in the workings of a minority al
j very small minority it is, confined alme
II exclusively 20 the Cherokees and Creek
! The balance are either qUiscen' or in fav
: of the change.
o. There can be no parallel made be;~e
~ the conditions which originally govern
the causes leading to the setting aside
. this country for their permanent occuT
V ton aEd the status Of today.
a Ii has been already explained how Il